I'm writing a book on Sir Henry Wyatt, his famous son and his infamous grandson. This is bits and pieces of cool stuff I'm finding along the way.

Jerry Lawson, Shot at the Battle of Cynthiana

We’re related to Jerry Lawson through marriage. Allow me to bore you with the details … Martha Simpson was born in 1827. She was the daughter of Emily Parmelia Wyatt and Moses Simpson; Emily’s parents are our direct line, Henry Wyatt and Elizabeth Redd.

On October 19, 1841, Martha married Josiah F. Tinney, a veteran of the War of 1812. Their son John Henry Tinney, was born February 23, 1844 in Harrison County, Kentucky. On March 5, 1867 he married Louisa Lawson, daughter of Jerry and Nancy Lawson. John Henry fought during the Civil War, as did his father-in-law Jerry Lawson.

Tradition states “It is told of Jerry Lawson, that he couldn’t hear good and at the Battle at Cynthiana, they were shooting from inside the Courthouse and they gave the word to surrender. He didn’t hear it and kept on shooting, so they shot him.”

3 Responses

I vaguely remember seeing reference to it in a copy of an old letter; or it may be family legend that’s been handed down. I remember beyond the shadow of a doubt because it triggered my fascination with genealogy and the Civil War.

My mother is getting too … um … addled to be bothered with all these details, so she recently shipped boxes of her genealogy materials to me and sent the bigger/heavier stuff home with my son (by car). One of us probably has it.

When I get a chance I’ll cruise through the boxes and see what I can find.

Thanks, Micki. I am a retired deaf professor from the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at Rochester (NY) Institute of Technology and I am nearing completion of a book on deafness and deaf people during the Civil War. Most of the information I have in the book has good documentation, and I try to avoid folklore, but occasionally I include anecdotes that were carried down through families. I was hoping to verify that Jerry was deaf or hard of hearing, and happened upon your web page. Thanks for the quick reply, and good luck with your own research and writing.